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Addictions
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Advocacy for
social services clients
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Providing access to someone who can advocate on
behalf of a social services client to ensure that
they receive equal rights by writing letters, making
phone calls, liaising with relevant agencies etc. on
the clients behalf.
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Alcohol -
advice and support
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This service provides counselling advice and support
for people affected by alcohol abuse/dependency.
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Alcohol,
drugs and substance abuse
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Anti
social behaviour and nuisance
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The local authority will provide support and
assistance to local residents who are victims of
harassment, anti-social behaviour and noise and
nuisances and where necessary take appropriate
actions in conjunction with other agencies (police
etc.).
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Bail
- accommodation
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The criminal justice social work department provide
assistance in finding suitable accommodation. The
court needs to maintain contact with an accused
person during the process of their case. As such,
where a person lives has a significant effect on the
bail decision. Bail accommodation aims to decrease
unnecessary custodial remands by assisting those who
are either homeless or who are otherwise unable to
offer an acceptable address. Courts can attach a
condition of residence to a bail order.
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Bail
- information and advice
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The criminal justice social work department provide
of verified information to the courts to assist in
decision making. The aim is to provide independent,
factual verified information about accused persons
held in police custody prior to a court appearance
the following day.
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Bail
- supervision
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The criminal justice social work department identify
and provide services for those people on, or at risk
of, a custodial remand who, if subject to
supervision, could be considered for bail. This could
be before trial or before sentence. As well as
supervision there is also provision for services
which facilitate the protection of the public by
addressing the potential risk of re-offending by
bailees while on bail. Bail supervision schemes
identify individuals, based on assessed need, who
require a level of intensive support and would suffer
extreme difficulties if sent to custody. Under Bail
Supervision, priority should be given to those with
mental health problems, women accused, single parents
and young people aged between 16 and 17.
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Business rates
- account enquiries
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Local businesses can apply to the council for
information about their own business rates such as a
statement of their account, details of their property
valuation etc. New businesses must apply to the
council for a valuation of their property and to set
up a new business rate account.
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Business rates
- annual notification
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Providing local business with information on who is
required to pay business rates, how business rates
are calculated for a property (valuation), how to pay
business rates.
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Business rates
- reductions
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Business owners may be eligible for reductions in
their business rates. Examples of reductions are
transitional relief, empty properties, charity
relief, rural rate relief and hardship relief. The
council provides advice on eligibility for rate
reductions and will provide application forms and
process applications for reductions.
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Child-minding
information
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Information and advice to parents and carers looking
for registered childcare, people thinking of going
into childcare as a career or setting up as a
provider, providers looking for training and funding
options and employers looking at childcare solutions
for their employees
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Childcare - out
of school hours
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Out of school hours services for children, usually
based in or near schools. The service is available to
all families in the local area however local
priorities for places may apply.
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Civil
emergencies - major accident hazards
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Planning for civil emergencies to ensure the
efficient and speedy management of the response to
these incidents between all the possible agencies;
the Police, Fire Brigade, Ambulance Service, the
council, utilities providers and voluntary agencies.
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Co-operative
development
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A co-operative is a way for two or more people to go
into business together and reducing personal
financial risk. The council can help set up a new
co-operative in any sector or help existing
co-operatives by providing advice and information on
issues such as business planning, finding premises,
legal advice, business information, suppliers etc.
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Community fire
safety
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The local fire authority will help residents and
businesses minimise the risk of fire in their homes
or place of work by providing advice on fire
prevention and protection.
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Community
grants
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Providing financial assistance to the voluntary and
community sector.
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Community
reparation orders
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CROs are a low tariff order and will be confined to
summary cases - i.e. crimes of a less serious nature
that are heard without a jury in the district and
sheriff courts. They focus specifically on making
reparation for anti-social behaviour by providing 10
to 100 hours of unpaid work. CROs will expand the
existing range of community disposals. Existing
disposals with a restorative element are either high
tariff, for example community service orders, or
designed to deal with a specific group, such as
supervised attendance orders for fine defaulters
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Community
safety
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The crime and disorder reduction strategy which
addresses key priorities in relation to crime and
disorder, it also provides information about
priorities and initiatives. Reporting tends to be
done locally and the partnerships aggregate and
anonymise data to support decision making.
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Community
service orders
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In law community service is an alternative to
custody. It offers offenders the opportunity to make
reparation to the community for the offences they
have committed by undertaking work for community
groups and individuals who are unable for a variety
of reason to carry out the work for themselves.
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Community
strategy
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Part 1 of the Local Government Act 2000 placed a duty
on each council in England and Wales to prepare a
community strategy to promote and improve the
economic, social and environmental well-being of
their areas and to contribute to the achievement of
sustainable development in the UK. In Scotland the
Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 places duties
on local authorities – to initiate, facilitate and
maintain Community Planning. Local authorities have a
duty to develop a comprehensive Community Plan along
with relevant stakeholders to promote or improve the
social, economic and environmental well-being of
their areas and contribute to the achievement of
sustainable development in Scotland.
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Conference,
hall and meeting room hire
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Details on any venues the local authority may have
available for private/business hire including the
location, size, facilities available, cost and how to
book.
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Court
fines - supervision of payment
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Local authorities should show a commitment to
diverting from custody those who have received a
financial penalty in the Court which they are unable
to pay.
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Credit
unions
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A credit union is a profit sharing, democratically
run financial co-operative which offers convenient
savings and low interest loans to its members. The
council may offer support to local credit unions by
providing advice and information to help them get
started and manage their affairs in a legal and
efficient way.
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Death
- repatriation of bodies - England and Wales
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If a death occurs abroad, the death should be
registered according to the local regulations of that
country. To bring a body back to England or Wales
either the Death Certificate or an authorisation for
the removal of the body from the country of death is
needed. The registrar in the district in which the
funeral is to take place has to issue a 'Certificate
of No Liability to Register'. You can bring a body
back to Scotland once you have got the death
certificate and an authorisation for the removal of
the body from the country of death from the
appropriate authorities. To bring the body into
Scotland you will need either an authenticated
translation of a foreign death certificate or a death
certificate issued in England, Wales or Northern
Ireland, depending on the place of death.
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Death
- repatriation of bodies - abroad
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Some countries require a Cadaver Certificate before
they will allow a body into the country for burial.
The certificate, if issued, confirms that no epidemic
of infectious disease occurred in the borough for
some three months preceding the death. The
certificate is issued by the Environmental Health
Officer for the Council in whose area the person
died, or is to be exhumed from before reburial
elsewhere. Every country has its own regulations and
it is always worth checking with the Embassy or
Consulate first.
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Disabled
people - independence at home
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Rehabilitation provides people with physical and
sensory disabilities with help to recover and regain
their independence often following an illness or
injury/stay in hospital. A care worker will provide
advice on how to cope with illness or disability, or
organise the provision of aids and equipment to help
in everyday tasks.
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Dog
and animal fouling
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Under the Dogs (Fouling of Land) Act 1996, any person
who permits a dog that is in their charge to foul any
area to which the public has access is committing an
offence. The local authority may provide bins in
parks and other public areas to which may be used by
dog owners. The local authority are responsible for
monitoring dog fouling and for initiating court
proceedings against offenders. In Scotland the Dog
Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 makes it an offence not
to clear up after your dog. Offenders face a fixed
penalty of which increases if not paid within 28
days. Offenders can also be reported to the
Procurator Fiscal and may be fined up to £500 if
convicted.
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Dog
bins
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The council provide dog bins for the collection of
dog waste and arrange for these to be emptied on a
regular basis.
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Drug
treatment and testing orders
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Free-standing order which can run in parallel with a
Probation Order. The order is supervised by an
officer of the local authority whose role is to
maintain overall control of the order, keeping
abreast of the treatment side to report on progress
to the court and ensure that work is being done to
tackle other issues related to the subject's
offending. The drug court team is an
interdisciplinary team which has criminal justice
social workers, addiction workers and medical staff
working closely together. This enables an intensive
assessment and supervision service to be provided
which research has shown is effective in reducing
drug dependency and related offending behaviour.
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Drugs
- advice and support
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This service offers confidential help and support to
people affected by abuse of both illegal drugs and
prescribed drugs.
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Economic
information and analysis
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Publishing details of a wide range of information
covering aspects of the areas economy including
statistics and key facts on economic strategy, trends
and forecasting, the local labour market and area
profiles.
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Employment
advice
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Advice and support for those with special needs who
may wish to seek full-time or part time employment.
This may include advice on the requirements of the
Disability Discrimination Act for employers.
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General legal
advice
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Access to the Community Legal Service which aims to
ensure that people can get information and advice
about their legal rights and help with enforcing them
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Health
and safety - occupational health services
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The council has a legal duty to enforce the Health
and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and related
legislation. As part of this duty the council should
ensure that work premises are safe for employees and
visitors to them and that accidents are prevented
wherever possible.
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Housing
- community safety
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The council work with tenants to ensure the safety of
all council housing estates. They will address issues
of nuisance and harassment and ensure all areas are
well lit and secured (entry doors etc.).
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Housing
focus groups
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Local
economy - development
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Programmes to develop and regenerate the local
economy and community, with key objectives being to
create employment opportunities and secure external
funding for the benefit of the area. Active promotion
of the area, offering business development and
support, and attempting to remove barriers to
investment.
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Means
enquiry reports
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Local Authorities are responsible for Means Enquiry
Reports to provide information to the courts to
inform their decisions on the appropriate level of
any fine
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Museums and
galleries - information and advice
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Information and advice on museums and galleries in
the local area. The galleries and museums may be
owned and operated by the local authority or by other
public bodies. The council may also choose to provide
information on privately run museums and galleries in
the local area.
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Needle
exchange
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Offender
support and supervision
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Throughcare is the process of social work support and
supervision of an offender and his or her family from
the point of sentencing to release from prison and to
the eventual discharge of the parole order or license
or the supervised release order.
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Parole
reports
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Social workers, based in the prison and in the
community, prepare Home Circumstances Reports for the
Parole Board to help them decide whether or not they
should allow a prisoner to be released early.
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Probation -
social service support
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Someone who is placed on probation will have to keep
regular contact with their social worker and comply
with all condition of the order. Contact will be
maintained with individuals as required to ensure
firm supervision of the probation conditions and may
vary according to individual circumstances. During
probation, social worker will visit the person’s home
and may involve family members to ensure the order is
completed successfully. The social worker has to make
sure that the conditions of the probation order are
being met and also to help the probationer avoid
further trouble. This involves discussing previous
offences committed and looking at ways to avoid this
happening again. The social worker may also direct
the probationer to attend counselling or other
programmes if they assess that it will help him or
her avoid further trouble.
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Referal from
prosecution scheme
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Diversion from prosecution is the referral of an
accused to social work or other agencies where it is
believed that formal criminal justice proceedings are
not necessary (i.e. where there is no overriding
public interest for a prosecution). The accused is
then dealt with through 'diversion schemes' which aim
to address underlying causes of offending. Diversion
is designed to prevent individuals being prematurely
"up-tariffed" into a custodial sentence and to stop
the cycle of offending/punishment before it starts.
Particular groups are targeted by this scheme:
Accused with mental health difficulties or learning
disabilities Drug and alcohol misusing accused Female
accused Young (16 and 17 year old)
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Regeneration
projects
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The purpose of regeneration is to improve the social,
economic and environmental wellbeing of our local
communities. Regeneration programmes are groups of
projects, which work together to make this happen.
Examples of these might be a programme to help new
businesses get started across the borough or
programme to reduce crime on a housing estate.
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Sale
of sundry items and publications
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The council may provide goods and publications
relevant to the local area for sale to the public.
This may include such items as local maps,
photographs, cards, locally made items, plants and
flowers etc. Items are often sold in local Tourist
offices.
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Social
enquiry reports
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Following conviction, or a finding at an Examination
of the Facts (EOF) that the person did the act or
made the omission constituting the offence, the court
may ask for a social enquiry report (SER) to be
provided by criminal justice social work staff in
accord with national standards. Reports are prepared
for all young offenders under the age of 21, all
adult offenders who may be sentenced to custody for
the first time and any other case as the sentencer
may determine.
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Supervising
attendance orders
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A supervised attendance order is in effect a fine on
time, which offenders require to use for constructive
activity. Once made, this order clears the fine.
Local authorities have responsibilities for
supervising attendance orders. There are specialist
supervised attendance officers attached to the court
based social work unit. These officers monitor
attendance and performance, and deal with
non-compliance and breach. The activity sessions
however are provided by APEX Scotland, a voluntary
organisation that specialises in training and
preparing offenders for employment.
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Trading
standards - under age sales
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Trading Standards deal with under-age sales of some
products (such as tobacco, fireworks and videos) and
work with the Police to deal with under-age alcohol
sales.
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Translating
and interpreting services
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The local authority provides interpreting and
translation service to people who need help because
English is not their first language and also sign
language interpreting to deaf people.
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Voluntary
organisations - funding
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Provision of grants to local voluntary organisations.
Grants are usually available for
projects/organisations that meet the councils
criteria and comply with the terms and conditions
imposed on the issue of funding.
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Volunteering
- information and advice
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Provision of information on volunteering
opportunities available in the community.
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Welfare rights
- advice
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Information and advice about entitlement to welfare
benefits, other allowances, grants and general
financial difficulties.
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Witness
support
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Support and advice to victims of crime and people who
are witnesses to crimes.
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Young
people - information and advice
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Integrated advice, guidance and access to personal
development opportunities for young people aged
between 13 and 19 to help them make a smooth
transition to adulthood and working life
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